lots of wear on side of tyre

Twiss · Unread post by **Twiss** » 04 Jul 2005, 04:54

I've got 93 Zx Aura TDand since I have owned it (2 years) it waers alot more on the near side front wheel, on the outter edge of the tyre. Tracking is fine, had all the wishbone and bushs replaced but she still wears on the outter edge of the tyre which is getting expensive.
Got any ideas?
Thanks Twiss

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 04 Jul 2005, 05:20

Had the NS front tyre wear (evenly) much more than the off side on our 1.9D. It can't be the necksnapping acceleration! but the tyre fitter who spotted an alignment fault said it was common to find nearside tyre wear and this was due to the cornering forces generated on roundabouts. I'm inclined to believe him as it does get thrown into roundabouts as it sticks well.
Outer edge wear is usually a symptom of toe in. Are the tread blocks sharp edged?
jeremy

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 04 Jul 2005, 12:29

Ive heard of this also. Happens with motorbikes too, where the right hand side of the front tyre wears out first. Might be a good idea to swap the wheels around fairly regularly to help even out the wear.

bxbodger · Unread post by **bxbodger** » 04 Jul 2005, 18:35

Check that your steering track rod ends are good and don't have any play in them-at all!!! If there is even a small bit of play in one or both it can cause uneven tyre wear, even though the tracking may appear to be ok when done statically.
Most tyre places never check the tracking properly, anyway- they don't roll the car backwards and forwards or rock it to fully even it all out. They usually just drive in, slam the brakes on and put the gauge on.........I gave up, bought a trakrite, and have had no alignment problems since!!!
This is how I solved a tyre wear problem on my old 205XS- I would run it over the trakrite, it would appear fine, I would then do it immediately again, and it would be out...this led me to look at why the steering was constantly altering between checks, and there was a little bit of play in a trackrod end that was causing it- it was only a small amount and not easily noticeable because the rubber gaiter on the joint made it hard to feel.
This is the benefit of having my own alignment gear. Had I had one shot in kwik-fit or wherever the chances are it would have appeared fine for that one check!!
I don't subscribe to the roundabout theory for normal sized tyres. I am driving around big and small roundabouts, and must go over hundreds of speed humps, road pillows, and god knows what else, all day long, but have never suffered tyre wear as a result. But then, I imagine it may be different with low profiles...

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 00:18

if tracking is out both tyers will wear either on both outter or both inner edges exactly the same amount,it will not just wear one tyre on one side,if its only one tyre wearing it cant be a trackrod end with play regards malcolm

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 05 Jul 2005, 00:48

I do plenty of roundabouts and none of them particularly slowly and my tyres wear fairly evenly. The '94 has a habbit of eating the shoulders (both inner and outer) where as the '97 wears its tyres almost perfectly evenly.
What Malcolm has said is correct if you're wearing one shoulder on one tyre (not a pair of shoulders on a pair of tyres) its not the sort of thing that toe in or toe out can cause. I think for camber to cause this your suspension geometry would have to be pretty bad too. What are your other suspension components (ball joints, bushes etc) like?

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:27

Toe out wears the inside tyre edges, toe in wears the outers. Camber (which is generally not adjustable) should be equal both sides and if not the steering really does pull hard (I speak from experience.) Camber can be roughly checked with a spirit level held vertically against the wheel/tyre edge and with the car on level ground should be the same both sides. (Get level straight and put a spacer in the gap top or bottom and do the same the other side - something like folded card will make the spacer)
jeremy

Stuart McB · Unread post by **Stuart McB** » 07 Jul 2005, 00:24

Twiss my old ZX TD would wear the out side edge of its front tyres in about 8 monhts from new. I just boght cheap tyres as the TD was just a good old work horse for me.

JohnT · Unread post by **JohnT** » 07 Jul 2005, 04:44

The only way this wear can happen is if the front sub frame is twisted, or previous accident damage hence the wear on only one tyre!

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 07 Jul 2005, 12:05

John I was beginning to wonder about that. Bit simpler - does the ZX have subframe mounts or is it like the BX with the subframe bolted straight to the shell? Is the subframe loose and displaced or has a mount failed?
Jeremy

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 07 Jul 2005, 14:05

front sub frames usuly are bolted strait to body,where the two front tyers fitted at same time,because if they were not you may not see the same amount of wear quite as easy so it could still be tracking out regards malcolm

Twiss · Unread post by **Twiss** » 08 Jul 2005, 03:32

it just so happens that it looks like she was hit on the near side at the front.(before I bought her) Pushed the bumper in a bit (lightis no longer flush with front of bonnet) and wing sticks out a bit only a bit to, other then that nothing that I can see apart from the wear on tyre.
I have had the wishbone and bushs replaced but nothing else to do with the suspension.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 08 Jul 2005, 13:15

i thought you said you had 4 wheel alinment check done,maybe they dont know how to use there equipment regards malcolm

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 08 Jul 2005, 13:58

Sounds to me like time for a proper investigation. Start with a chassis drop - needs highly sophisticated machinery - plumbline, chalk and a tape measure.
The idea is to measure the diagonals of the underbody/suspension which should be the same. So park the car on clean level ground, look under the back and find a convenient point near the outside of the car thats the same the other side and put the line on it and mark the position of the weight on the ground. Do the same at the front and the other side, move the car and measure the diagonal length.
You can do this several times to see if the suspension is involved or the shell itself.
Does this car steer straight - by which I mean if you take both hands off the wheel at say 50 will it run straight down the road or does it pull to one side. (Difficult to do on the Isle of Wight I know!). On a good road you should be able to leave it hands off for a surprisingly long time.
Does the stering feel the same both sides - ie is the rack centred. Go to an open smooth space, set the wheel so that the car drives straight ahead and mark the top of the steering wheel (tape? - chalk?). Now drive slowly forward and turn the wheel to full lock on one side - remember where the tape is. Do the same the other side. is the tape in the mirror image position? If not your trackrods are different lengths and the thing will feel much better when they are done.
These are simple and quite quick checks and are best done by you so that yu know that they have been done properly. If you let someone else measue it you will never know if the job was actually done or if they are telling you what you want to hear.
I had the ZX Laser tracked the other day and it does feel better. I'm still suspicious that the rack isn't centred and must work out what the thing was supposed to be doing. I don't think it was doing half what it was supposed to and think it was doing what I could do with a calibrated piece of wood in the area of the back wheels.
jeremy

ActivaV6uk · Unread post by **ActivaV6uk** » 08 Jul 2005, 13:58

are you all sure that you cant get ware on one tire more than the others? Ive had 2 cars now do this one was owned by the family from new and never had an accsedent. the other when the tracking was done the ware stoped (it was on the passenger side front on a Xantia).
the stearing on my V6 is very heavy i think its either tracking or a pump not putting out enough power.
Andy